New DEQ building in Bay City will be most energy-efficient building in Michigan

Octavian Cantilli | Times PhotoThe state Department of Environmental Quality's new 25,000-square-foot office at 401 Ketchum St. in Bay City is loaded with green features, including lights that adjust for ambient sunlight, insulation made from blue jeans and ceiling tiles made from wheat.

Michigan's most energy-efficient building will open soon in Bay City.

The 25,000-square-foot office, 401 Ketchum St., will house the state Department of Environmental Quality's Saginaw Bay District headquarters along with Michigan Rehabilitation Services, an arm of the Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth.

And while the office is decorated in shades of blue, it boasts green features from top to bottom: Fluorescent lights that adjust their intensity based on the sunshine from 28 skylights, walls insulated with recycled blue jeans, refurbished office furniture and window sills made from reclaimed marble from a state office building in Lansing.

Octavian Cantilli | Times PhotoRecycled blue jeans make up the building's insulation material.

The two state agencies are now housed in a 17,000-square-foot strip mall on Euclid Avenue. The new offices are due to open for business on Feb. 2.

A public open house is planned for sometime around Earth Day in April, said Tim Diebolt, chief of the DEQ's Office of Business Services in Lansing.

"It's the greenest building in the state right now," said Diebolt, who was in town on Tuesday.

The brick structure will house about 80 DEQ employees and another 20 from MRS.

On Tuesday, a radio was blaring country music in a sea of cubicles as workers put the finishing touches on phones and other systems in the building.

But with sound-absorbing ceiling tiles made from wheat, you could barely hear the noise standing about 100 feet away.

The new building also has five conference rooms, with video capabilities and smart sensors that adjust the temperature only if people are present.

The floors also are raised 18 inches, allowing for more even heating and cooling. Employees can regulate the temperature in their cubicle from individual floor vents.

State officials hope to gain a platinum rating for the building, the highest standard awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. It would be the only platinum-rated building in Michigan, and one of only about five in the United States, Diebolt said.

A 50-kilowatt wind turbine, 155 feet to the top of its blades, is due to be installed and running by late September, providing about 30 percent of the building's power.

A 10-kilowatt solar array is planned for later, pending grant funding. Together, the wind and solar power are expected to generate about 60 percent of the building's electrical needs.

Saginaw Valley State University plans to monitor the building's energy use to provide information to commercial contractors interested in similar projects.

A Bingham Farms contractor constructed the building for about $5 million, minus grants that paid for the windmill, and will lease the space to the state.

The state will end up paying about $12,000 more a year than the lease for the Euclid Avenue building, but reduced energy costs will make operations less expensive in the long run, Diebolt said.